1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a lid mechanism having a lid that may be opened and closed from either left or right side, and being used in a dual swing container box.
2. Related Art
Known container boxes for vehicles include a single swing container box disposed in a center console of a vehicle and having a lid that may be opened and closed from only one of left and right sides, and a dual swing container box having a lid that may be opened and closed from either left or right side.
A dual swing container box disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2007-245838 includes two types of arm sections for selectively opening a lid from a left side or a right side of a box main body. The two types of arm sections are respectively disposed at longitudinal ends of the box main body. Each of the arm sections includes a bias member for biasing the lid in an opening direction of the lid. When opening the lid from one side, one of the arm sections is left on the box main body and the other arm section integrally moves with the lid. When opening the lid from the other side, the other arm section is left on the box main body and the one arm section integrally moves with the lid. Furthermore, the dual swing container box disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2007-245838 further includes a mechanism for switching connections between the arm sections and the lid.
The dual swing container box disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2007-245838 requires a space in which the arm section is disposed at each of the longitudinal ends of the box main body. This disadvantageously leads to a reduction in a capacity of a containing section provided in the box main body, and a reduction in an opening area of the container box. According to the dual swing container box, when the lid is opened, one of the arm sections can always be visually recognized by a user since one of the arm sections is always left on the box main body. This disadvantageously leads to an unattractive appearance of the dual swing container box with the lid being opened.